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Hamas Officials Say Ceasefire Could Be "Imminent"; Russia's Military Buildup in the Arctic; Could COVID Variants Delay U.K.'s Return to Normal?; Hamas Officials Say Ceasefire Could Be "Imminent"; 10-Year-Old Girl in Gaza Documents Experience on Social Media; Malawi's Health Minister Incinerates Expired Vaccines; Kenya Expected to Run Out of Vaccines in Days; Cuba Bets on Domestically-Made Vaccines to Beat COVID; Plastics Problem. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 20, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:35]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again. I'm John Vause. This is CNN NEWSROOM, live around the world.
Ahead this hour, after more than a week of relentless airstrike, rocket attacks and some of the deadliest fighting in years, Hamas says a cease-fire with Israel maybe imminent.
Worries over a coronavirus variant could impact the U.K.'s long awaited return to normalcy.
Plus this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This entire air base is covered in ice and, yet, the Russians have managed to extend the runway to a point where they can land even their heaviest aircraft here including strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: An exclusive look at Russia's military might in the Arctic.
(MUSIC)
VAUSE: After 11 days of unprecedented rocket fire from Gaza and an Israeli air offensive like no other, with more than 230 dead including dozens of children, and with extensive and severe damage to homes, buildings, and infrastructure, both Israel and the militant group Hamas appear to be moving closer to a cease-fire. Hamas officials tell CNN an agreement could be imminent, possibly within 24 hours.
Crucial to all of this, it seems, the very direct and blunt conversation seems the U.S. president had with the Israeli prime minister. Biden telling Netanyahu he expected a significant de- escalation on Wednesday. But for the moment, Hamas continues to fire rockets. The most recent
barrage aimed at towns in southern Israel and an Israeli air force base.
Israel has also launched a new round of airstrikes on Gaza, targeting what they say was a weapons storage unit headed in the home of a former senior Hamas official.
CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman begins our coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This phone call is critical. In Khan Yunis, Gaza, 52-year-old Nihada Tawil (ph) hears he must evacuate. On the other end of the line, Israeli security warns his neighborhood will soon be the target of an airstrike.
Soon after, residents watch as a ball of fire and smoke consumes the neighborhood. Looking on, their homes reduced to rubble.
This behind me reflects their humanity, demolishing homes, terrifying children and the elderly, says this president, after his home was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. He's one of at least 72,000 people the U.N. says have been displaced in the violence.
The Israeli air force says it launched several strikes on what it says were Hamas targets Wednesday, including what they called a weapons depot of Gaza militants in Khan Yunis, and an alleged command and control center in Rafah.
It marks the 10th day of conflict, in which more than 200 have been killed in Gaza, more than 60 of them children, says Gaza's health ministry.
Reports emerged Wednesday that 11 of the young ones were being treated for trauma before Israeli strikes ended their lives.
As concerns over the humanitarian toll mount, calls for de-escalation grow ever louder.
U.S. president calling on Israel to find a path to cease-fire, but Israel's leader bows the offensive against got Gaza militants will continue, in his, words as long as necessary.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (translated): I am determined to continue this operation until its objective is achieved: to restore the calm and security to you, citizens of Israel.
WEDEMAN: Four rockets were launched from Lebanon into Israeli territory Wednesday, sending sirens wailing in towns near the Israeli Lebanese border.
On Israel's southern coast, a fresh rocket barrage hit the city of Ashdod. Israelis running for cover as Gaza militants unleashed new attacks. If a cease-fire comes, it can't come soon enough.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And while the U.S. president stepping up for pressure for a cease-fire, at the United Nations, Washington's strategy has not changed. It's still blocking efforts for a declaration of a cease-fire by the Security Council.
[01:05:02]
CNN's Richard Roth has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: The United States has made it clear it objects to the proposed French resolution at the Security Council, designed to provide some momentum to end the fighting in the Middle East.
The resolution calls for a cease-fire, and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid into Gaza. However, the U.S. says it even blocked a simple statement 50 nations on the Security Council, let alone the more significant legally blinding resolution now proposed.
The French foreign minister in Paris when asked about its chances said, well, if they exist, it's not a done thing.
The U.S. mission to the United Nations spokesperson said, we will not support actions that we believe undermined efforts to end this crisis. The U.S. is Israel's biggest protector, at the Security Council and believes once again that efforts to internationalize the situation, instead of direct diplomacy is not suitable.
A spokesman for the U.N. secretary general said he would have no comment in effect on this resolution, but he did say the secretary general always favors united and strong Security Council.
On Tuesday, down the hall the U.N. General Assembly will open an open debate in the Middle East. Lots of speeches, no vetoes exist in assembly. However, any action is legally nonbinding.
Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Russia's foreign minister has said the first high-level talks with the U.S. under the Biden administration have been constructive. Still no decision apparently yet on a meeting between the American and Russian presidents. The country's seeing diplomats met on the sidelines of the Arctic Council Summit in Iceland. The U.S. secretary of state raised deep concerns to what he says is Russia's malevolent activities, but left the door open for cooperation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It's also no secret that we have our differences, and when it comes to those differences as President Biden has also shared, with President Putin, if Russia acts aggressively against us, our partners, our allies will respond. But having said that, there are many areas where our interests intersect and overlap, and we believe that we can work together and indeed build on those interests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The meeting came a day after the U.S. said they will not sanction the company behind the building of Russia's Nord Stream II gas pipeline, even though Washington strongly opposes the project and says it threatens European energy security.
One of the big concerns by the end states is Russia's militarization of the Arctic.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen and his team had rare access to an airbase which is part of Russia's average to upgrade its northern fleet. Here is that exclusive report.
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PLEITGEN (voice-over): The course due north, flying for hours to Russia's northernmost military installation. Moscow granted us a rare visit to its base on Franz Josef Land, a barren archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, which Russia believes is key to dominating the Arctic.
This entire air base is covered in ice, and yet, the Russians have managed to extend the runway to a point that they can land even their heaviest aircraft here, including strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
The effort Moscow is making to upgrade its Arctic bases is massive, inside the modern housing complex, called a "Trefoil", the air commander confirms to me that even Russia's dangerous to TU-95 strategic bombers, a plain similar in size with the U.S.'s B-52s can now operate at the airfield here.
Of course they can, he says, have a look. We can land all types of aircraft on this base.
A chilling prospect for the U.S. and its allies, considering Franz Josef Land is only about 160 miles east of NATO territory. That's well within range of these powerful coastal defense rockets the Russians also showed us. They're capable of hitting ships more than 200 miles off the coast, a threat that worries of the U.S.
BLINKEN: We have concerns about some of the increased military activities in the Arctic, that increases the dangers, the prospects of accidents, we calculations.
PLEITGEN: The main reason why the standoff between the U.S. and Russia is heating up in the Arctic is climate change. As polarize melt, the region is becoming more accessible and Russia is moving fast to stake its claims.
Much of that effort is led from here, the headquarters on the northern fleet in a closed military town of Severomorsk, which we also got asked to.
Russia has been upgrading its fleet for years, his flagship is the Peter the Great nuclear battle cruiser, outfitted with an array of weapons to hit targets on sea and land, and fight off planes and submarines.
[01:10:03]
Russia has a clear strategy up here in the Arctic, and essentially revolves around three different things. On the one hand, a very strong military. Then dominating the Northern Sea route, and also tapping and exploiting natural resources.
And Russia is warning the U.S. and its allies, not to mess with that plan.
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: It has been absolutely clear for everyone for a long time, that this is our territory, this is our land. We are responsible for our Arctic coast to be safe, everything that our country does there is absolutely legitimate.
PLEITGEN: Rhetoric that increasingly has the U.S. and Russia on a collision course in the high north, with Moscow so far in a stronger position.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Severomorsk, Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, still to come here, the deadly cyclone has passed and with relative calm, the search continues. The survivors in a barge to which sank off India's coast.
Also ahead, fact-checking the U.K. prime minister and his claim the best way to fight COVID variants by getting vaccinated.
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VAUSE: Well, back to our top story. One U.S. official says Israel might just be running out of fixed targets in Gaza. Now focusing on targets of opportunity, in other ways militant leaders who are spotted by overhead surveillance. Israeli military source confirms the military leader of Hamas has been targeted twice, over the past 10 days. Each time, Mohammed Deif has escaped.
Ronen Bergman is one of Israel's leading investigative journalists. He's also the author of "Rise and Kill First", he is with us this hour from Tel Aviv.
Thanks for being with us, Ron. Israel -- what surprises me, Israel is no stranger when it comes to target assassinations. It has good aerial surveillance of almost every square inch of Gaza, has a network of informants. How is it that they keep missing Deif?
RONEN BERGMAN, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, you can ask, how come Deif succeeds to be longest lasting surviving most wanted in the history of the Israeli Palestinian conflict? Possibly in the history of the Middle East, possibly in history of the world, for almost three decades, he has been evading Israeli assassins, drones, fighter jets, snipers, as well as trying to kill him in a known number of -- eight occasions, many, many other occasions when they started the operation. They stopped before actually firing at him, with two of those occasions just last week when Israel tried to kill him.
Deif is a unique example of someone who is able to survive all of those numerous attempts of Israel's attempts on his life. On the other hand, so being a symbol, a myth, a legend to Palestinian heroism, sacrifice.
[01:15:03]
He has been injured many times, he lost an eye, a hand, he suffered shrapnels in his head. He can barely walk and use his limbs, but he is able not just being a myth but also commanding in the arm wing of Hamas, the Izzedine Qassam brigade, using a small network of carriers who are taking his orders or notes, and taking them and sending them over to the militants.
He is not using any kind of electronic media, or signal, because he knows that from his point of view a mistake, one mistake could be his last.
VAUSE: Is there --
BERGMAN: Yes, please?
VAUSE: Sorry for interrupting. Is their link here between the strategy of targeting Deif, as well as other militant leaders and the extraordinary number of high rise buildings that have been leveled by Israeli airstrikes?
BERMAN: Well, I think we know where most of those buildings were taken down following a ritual, following a knock on the roof, which is either sending a firing -- some kind of a warning shots, or a small missile that would only touch the roof of the building, to actually call people in the building now here very to leave because this building is going to be destroyed in a few minutes.
Those are more, I would say, a symbolic acts that are trying from the Israeli point of view to signal Hamas that they could not use those offices, they cannot use those buildings because Israel is going to take them down, and also exercising some toll on the Palestinian inhabitants, do not let Hamas populate offices in those buildings.
But the heavy bombardment's that we have been witnessing, hundred, thousands of explosives tons being dropped in Gaza specific laces are aimed to take down the subterranean network. Dozens and dozens of miles of subterranean tunnels, that are used to hide the militants. Some of them deep as many as deep as 70 meters underground.
And some of those places, the commands of the leadership of Hamas is finding shelters. Not Deif but some others, have been targeted inside of the tunnels using special kinds of bunker busters, and were killed.
Israel is looking for something they call a winning photo up. So why do they would kill, a special Hamas site installation, a silo of missile that they would take out, in order to demonstrate, this is a war with symbols. This is a war that is aimed to the media. The Israeli military, Israeli intelligence is looking for specific kind of hitting a symbol, whether someone like this myth of heroism for Hamas, or hitting one of the main depots of missiles to show Israel has won this round and agree to the cease-fire, that according to Israeli officials is imminent.
We are witnessing, we are waiting for an Israeli official as we've been reporting in "The New York Times" just now. Israel official said we are waiting, the cease-fire within 48 -- now less than 48 hours now, mediated by Egyptian intelligence, between the Israeli National Security Council, and the leaders of Hamas.
VAUSE: Ronen, we're going to have to leave it there but it's been great to have you on. We really appreciate your insights as well as your reporting. We'll have you come back, thank you.
BERGMAN: Thank you. Have a good day.
VAUSE: To India now, at least 26 people are dead and dozens still unaccounted for after a barge sank during that monster cyclone which hit the country earlier this week. All this comes as India struggles to try and get a grip on the COVID-19 crisis. The daily death count fell slightly Thursday, a little more than 3,800 after setting a new record of just a day earlier.
CNN's Anna Coren following the story for us from Hong Kong.
You know, a dip here, a surge there, the reality is the numbers just stay incredibly high and don't appear to be making any indication that the come down anytime soon?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, we know it's a massive undercount, we've been reporting that now for weeks. However, the modeling would suggest, John, that perhaps India has reached a peak. And now, we are seeing this extremely high death toll.
Yesterday, it set a global record for the highest number of daily deaths ever recorded in the world since the pandemic began. But yes, of course, there is still hundreds of thousands of people contracting this virus every day. Thousands are still dying every single day. And this is going to be a monumental task, for India in the months ahead.
You mentioned that storm, John, and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he went to the state of Gujarat to where cyclone Tauktae made landfall on Monday night, to survey the extensive damage. He took a helicopter over the devastated area, spoke to the states chief minister.
And, you know, the search and rescue operation in relation to that barge, that is still ongoing, that is off the coast of Mumbai, further down the coast from Gujarat. But, you know, the stories that we're hearing from the rescue operation, just nothing short of heroic. What these crew onboard these barges have had to endure. And then the Navy's role in rescuing these people, you're talking about eight meter waves, that's 26 foot, monstrous conditions.
There's now an investigation underway as to why these one particular barge was in that position, knowing full well that the cyclone was heading.
Take a listen to what one crew member had to say, after being rescued.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The Indian navy was a godsend for, us they arrived in the nick of time. We were clinging on to the barge, and luckily, the lifejackets helped us as the water was going over our head. The navy officials threw ropes and lifeboats (ph), we're lucky to be alive. They gave us warm food and medical treatment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: The navy spokesperson said he was like putting your hand in a lion's mouth, and getting people out safely. As I say, nothing short of heroic what has been going on there.
You mentioned that there are 26 bodies have been recovered, 47 are still missing. There are five ships out, their helicopters, aerial surveillance. This is not over yet. They are still hoping to try and find more survivors, if not more bodies.
The other story, John, that is coming out of India is this surge in mucormycosis, which is known as black fungus. It's a disease that has been hitting patients, a lot of COVID patients because of their immune system, and also patients who are diabetics. This is claiming lives now and we've been seeing this now for months. But there's certainly been an uptick in these cases. The state of Rajasthan has declared an epidemic. Others have notified the government, referring to it as a notifiable disease.
So, this is something that is gaining momentum, causing huge problems to health authorities, also in India, you know, add that to COVID. It really is -- it's a disaster what's going on there right now.
VAUSE: Yeah, misery upon misery upon disaster upon crisis. Anna, thank you. Anna Coren there live in Hong Kong.
Well, they're celebrating the end of some COVID restrictions in the U.K., variants like the double mutation first detected in India, now threatened to bring the good times to an end. Health officials in the U.K. are closely watching where and how fast the variants are spreading.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT HANCOCK, BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY: We've always known that one of the things that has the potential to knock us off track, would be a new variant. That's why we made the presence of a new variant, that could do that one of our four tests when we set out the roadmap, which is of the test we must pass before going down each step of the roadmap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: For the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, it's a case of in vaccines we trust. He's becoming increasingly confident that the current vaccines remain effective against those COVID variants. And with faith in vaccines he says, the U.K. will continue cautiously with its reopening plans.
CNN's Scott McLean has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the banks of the Ganges River, bodies washed up daily, victims authorities believe of COVID-19, the overwhelmed health care system, unable to care for them and the packed crematoriums unable to take their bodies when they die.
[01:25:01]
India's newfound misery is thanks in part to a faster spreading COVID variant that's quickly making its way around the world, leaving the lineups of people hoping to get vaccinated in the U.K., where it's fast becoming the dominant strain.
Seems like the U.K.'s path to normality is in jeopardy?
DR. JEFF BARRETT, DIRECTOR, COVID-19 GENOMICS INITIATIVE, SANGER INITIATIVE: I think we do have to look very carefully at what happens in the next few weeks.
MCLEAN: Dr. Jeff Barrett runs industrial scale COVID-19 genetic sequencing operation, at the British Sanger Institute, which helped frosty fast spreading U.K. variant B117, but could not prevent the massive spike in cases that followed.
Are you sensing a little bit of deja vu here?
BARRETT: Yes, I have to admit that I didn't think it's going to see these kinds of curves happen again. So, because there isn't that much genome sequencing in India, we have been sort of carefully watching this variant in the same way. So, I think it does mean we're slightly playing catch-up now.
MCLEAN: There are 26 united mutations which make this variant different from the original virus. Now, most of them are pretty benign, but there are five Dr. Barrett says, that could help the virus spread more easily. This one is also found in the U.K. variant, this one is shared with the California variant. It helps the virus find more easily with human cells. They're also two suspicious deletions of DNA parts, which may change the shape of the virus. Then there are these two, which Dr. Barrett says scientists, honestly don't know that much about.
Now, there is no evidence that any of these changes make the virus more deadly, but there is concern that some, especially this one they reduce the effectiveness of vaccines.
BARRETT: I think get worse, they will be slightly less well neutralized by the vaccines. But there's really no evidence at all that it could fundamentally escape, whether that vaccines will be not effective at all.
MCLEAN: Sounds reassuring, but it won't help those who haven't got the vaccine at all. The British health secretary says in one community, most people hospitalized with the new variant declined to get the shot when they were offered it.
HANCOCK: It underlines again the importance of getting the jab.
MCLEAN: Despite infections of the new variant doubling in just one week, restrictions on indoor gatherings were eased in England on Monday. But now, the British prime minister is warning the final step towards normality may have to be delayed, depending on how exactly transmissible this variant turns out to be.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: If it's at the higher and, then, you know, we will have -- we will certainly have to think about what extra measures we need to take to protect the public.
MCLEAN: Scott McLean, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: When we come back, how the war between Israel and Hamas seems through the eyes of a 10 year old girl.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
More now on our lead story.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
More now on our lead story.
Hamas officials tell CNN a ceasefire with Israel could be imminent possibly within 24 hours. That has not stopped either side from launching attacks. Israel says its fighter plane struck a weapons storage unit inside the home of a former Hamas leader.
A U.S. Defense official says Israel may be running out of fixed targets and is now keeping surveillance overhead looking for so-called targets of opportunity.
Meantime Hamas fired another barrage of rockets towards Israel overnight aimed at two air force bases. The militant group claims the fighting which started last Monday has now killed more than 220 people in Gaza. The death toll in Israel stands at 12.
Elliott Gotkine is in Tel Aviv this hour. So Elliott, what is interesting, yes, there was that barrage of rockets at one point but it's almost eight hours now without any rocket fire coming from the Gaza Strip. What do you make of it?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Well, I don't think that a lull necessarily makes a ceasefire. But it's certainly the longest lull in rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel since its latest outbreak of hostilities. There was a six-hour lull a few days ago. And now we are at about seven and a half hours.
The idea, for its part, says that it continued striking targets in the Gaza Strip throughout the night, in its words, when I spoke with a spokesperson from the IDF. So that would suggest that, you know, that the lull from the part of the militants may just be one-sided for now.
But as you said, you know, a Hamas official has told CNN that a ceasefire could be imminent, possibly within the next 24 hours. And that there is a positive atmosphere in discussions with the Egyptians and Qatari though who are helping to try to broker a ceasefire.
And of course, we heard from U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday saying about his -- talking about his expectation for a de-escalation on the path towards a ceasefire.
Now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was non-committal, didn't pledge that that would be the case. But certainly it would seem to be a positive development that rocket fire has been diminishing. Whether this turns out or kind of transforms itself into an actual ceasefire, of course, we've have to wait and see what happens over the next few hours.
VAUSE: We are also hearing that -- from Benjamin Netanyahu that despite what Joe Biden may have said to him about wanting a de- escalation now, there are plans for this to continue on.
So what are they -- who is the audience there? Who exactly is Benjamin Netanyahu talking to because that statement was actually posted on social media?
GOTKINE: Well, Netanyahu is obviously trying to get the message out to the Israeli people but he, as the leader of Israel he's doing everything possible to try to restore calm and security. And obviously, if and when there is a ceasefire he will want to portray it as a victory for Israel as will Hamas want to portray it as a victory for the militant group. So both sides will want to say that they had made significant progress towards reaching their objectives. And Netanyahu as we know is in a relatively precarious position politically. And has said all along that, you know, these operations will continue until they've met their objective which is security and calm for the citizens of Israel.
Now, even as we've said, you know, even if there is some kind of ceasefire this time around, I don't think anyone seriously expects this to be a permanent thing.
We've seen in the past that wars with Gaza come and go and even if this round of fighting doesn't within 24 hours as the Hamas official told CNN, that doesn't mean that we won't be back here in a few months or in a few years talk about the exact same thing.
So clearly something needs to be done if there is going to be a permanent solution. But for now as we know, the most we can hope for is a ceasefire to come into place as soon as possible.
VAUSE: Elliott thank you. Elliott Gotkine there live for us again, in Tel Aviv. Appreciate it.
A 12-year-old child in either Gaza or Israel has now lived through four wars between Hamas militants and Israel which means the sound of artillery and airstrikes and air raid sirens have been a near-constant traumatizing part of life.
Israel reports at least two children have died from rockets fired from Gaza. The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 60 civilians in Gaza have been killed by the Israeli airstrikes.
For the past week a 10-year-old girl living in Gaza has documented her experience on social media. Here is CNN's Arwa Damon with her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's the juxtaposition that is perhaps the most jarring. Between the clips Nadine, an aspiring social media influencer, used to post about her life often featuring her younger brother Szu (ph) and the clip that was posted of her that went viral.
[01:35:00]
NADINE ABDULLATIEF, GAZA RESIDENT: You see all of this. What do you expect me to do? Just sit. I'm only 10. I can't even deal with this any minute (ph) more.
I just want to be a doctor or anything to help my people. But I can't. I'm just a kid.
DAMON: She is just a kid. But at the same time, she is not -- not anymore.
(on camera): Are you having fun? Let's go.
ABDULLATIEF: It's ok, it's not near us, I promise.
I was not laughing because it was funny. I was laughing because I was trying to keep my brother calm down.
I guess (ph) I love you.
SZU: Me too.
ABDULLATIEF: We're back again here and this is all the stuff we got for the school.
DAMON (voice over): This is what they should have been getting ready for. Instead --
ABDULLATIEF: This is my bag in case anything happens, or our house gets exploded. I don't really care about any of those things that are in the bag, as I said. I care about family. I care about other people and that's it.
When the explosion happens, we all hang out in this room. It's better to die all of us together.
This is where the explosion is at. You see right there. There's the ambulance. And I think that's a house.
DAMON: "Of course, Nadine gets scared," her mother says. "She covers her fear for her brother."
ABDULLATIEF: More potatoes for me. This is like breakfast dinner.
DAMON: Nadine's mother watches her family as if she is quietly relishing in the laughter of the younger generations. For a laughter is more precious in times like this when you know even if you are just a kid, that it can end at any moment.
Arwa Damon, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Cuba is putting its hopes on domestically made COVID vaccines which are still in development. But it seems official approval for use, that's just a formality when many are already -- so why (ph) are many being vaccinated there? We will tell you in a moment.
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[01:39:50]
VAUSE: Malawi has destroyed more than 19,000 expired doses of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine. The health minister actually took part in the incineration saying the doses were unusable, despite guidance from the WHO that it could be used until mid July.
In her attempt to build public confidence in the vaccine program, she says it's against government policy to use expired vaccines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KUMBIZE CHIPONDA, MALAWI HEALTH MINISTER: Let me show Malawians that they should not get worried. That indeed because we have destroyed these vaccines they will not have enough.
Now, as a country, we are committed that we have some which we are using now but we are still going to get more until we reach our target which is having at least 11 million Malawians getting AstraZeneca vaccine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Malawi has received more than 450,000 doses of the vaccine from various sources. And since March 300,000 people -- about 2 percent of the population, has been vaccinated.
Other African nations have thrown out or given back vaccines because of the expiration date. South Sudan says it plans to discard almost 60,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine because they arrived within two weeks of expiration. They've only managed to vaccinate 5,000 people -- 5,000 out of a population of 11 million.
The World Health Organization says the Democratic Republic of Congo returned more than a million vaccine doses because it was worried the shots would not be administered before their expiration date. Fewer than 9 million (SIC) people have been vaccinated there out of a population of 86 million.
A spokesperson for the WHO Africa COVID-19 vaccine rollout told CNN the destruction of the expired vaccines is deeply regrettable but necessary saying, quote, "Given the complex process required to verify their stability and the risk of negative perception related to the use of expired doses, the WHO recommends that COVID-19 vaccines already in the distribution chain should not be used beyond their labeled expiry date and should be safely disposed of", which all seems very odd, considering how safe it is to use them for an extended period of time.
Meantime countries like Kenya set to run out of COVID vaccine in just a few days. The health minister says African countries must now realize it's everyone for themselves.
CNN's Larry Madowo has more now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: : There are Kenyans who received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine who will not have a second dose because Kenya doe snot have any more of it in a few days.
There are also some who received the first shot of AstraZeneca that may be offered the single dose Johnson & Johnson shot with 100,000 vaccines left by as soon as Friday. The country may be completely out of any more vaccine shots.
The country's trying to bring in more vaccines from neighboring countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo that doesn't have the capacity to inoculate its citizens before those vaccines expire.
But the big problem here, the Kenyan health minister has told me, is vaccine nationalism which has exposed Africa's inability to have its own vaccines in a global pandemic.
This is Mutahi Kagwe.
MUTAHI KAGWE, KENYA MINISTER OF HEALTH: I think that vaccine nationalism is something that has cropped up across the world. As a continent, we must stop believing that there is anybody out there who is a Good Samaritan, a biblical Samaritan, who's just about to come and help us.
There is nothing like that, you know? This is a situation where we have seen very clearly, it's everyone for himself or for herself and good for us all, clearly.
And therefore, going into the future, the local production, local manufacturing or pharmaceutical commodities and products is an absolute must.
MADOWO (on camera): How bad is it for Kenya that the Serum Institutes say on Tuesday that it will not resume vaccine shipments internationally until the end of the year?
KAGWE: We're not just waiting for these donations that are coming to Kenya. We are in discussions with the Johnson & Johnson facilities in South Africa for what we think is going to be the new supply chain rather than relying on AstraZeneca.
Given what's happening in India, and given the difficulties that the Indian people are going through, and the population of India, it is very unlikely that AstraZeneca is going to be the vaccine of choice for the African continent going forward.
It is very likely that we are going to discuss and agree on Johnson & Johnson.
MADOWO: The African Union is now saying it has ordered 400 million shots of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and it expects 240 million of those to be available in Africa this year.
But even if those were to come though, that is still a drop in the ocean for a continent of one billion people were only about 2 percent of people have been vaccinated so far.
It will take some time until the majority of the adult population across the African continent is vaccinated. The continent is looking to COVAX, this World Health Organization initiative, to figure out how to fund the extra Johnson & Johnson shots. But the thinking across the continent is that it cannot rely on the Serum Institute of India, the largest vaccine manufacturer because it has already said it will not be exporting vaccines internationally until the end of the year because of India's own COVID crisis.
[01:45:00] MADOWO: So across the continent here, in Nairobi, in many of the cities, there are people wondering when they will have that protection. In the meantime, there is the fear that the longer people remain unvaccinated, the virus will mutate. There may be new variants and that will spread to the rest of the world.
And so as President Joe Biden has said, as COVAX has said, as many officials across the African continent have said, nobody is safe in any part of the world until everybody is safe because they still might affect you regardless of where you live.
Larry Madowo, CNN -- Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For many in Cuba, hopes are resting on developing their own COVID vaccine. And now one of the five domestic vaccines is being brought out nationally even though it has not been fully tested.
But as CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports, officials say they do not have the luxury of time.
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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You find tiny barebones clinics like this one in nearly every neighborhood in Cuba. Cuban officials hope that they are finally turning the tide of the pandemic by administering Cuba's homegrown vaccines to millions of people in the coming months.
That this small cash-strapped island has developed five vaccine candidates, two that are in the final stages of testing is a point of pride among some of the 80 people who received their first dose the day we visited this clinic in a working class neighborhood on the outskirts of Havana.
"I have confidence in the vaccine and the scientists," she says, "in the revolution in everything."
Nationalist sentiment aside, Cuba is facing its darkest days of the pandemic. Early on, the leaders of the communist-run island decided to produce their own vaccines rather than buy and import them from other countries.
Tight control seem to keep the pandemic at bay until late in 2020 when the island reopened to international travel.
That increase in visitors combined with the new variants fueled the highest surgeon cases that the island has seen to date. What health officials are now administering isn't a fully tested vaccine, but a vaccine candidate that they believe will be effective.
Cuban Health Officials tell CNN they don't expect to know the exact efficacy of the two most advanced vaccine candidates until June.
But they say they can't afford to wait any longer to administer the only medicine they have to stem the spread of the virus.
"We are moving up the mass vaccination by a month approximately in certain at risk populations, he says. Fundamentally based on the evidence we have of security and the immune response generated by our vaccine candidates.
Cuba has decades of experience in vaccine-making and mobilizing their own population.
Cuba had a late start to vaccinations but officials say they are now making up for that lost time, bringing in the full weight of the state resources to bear here so the barrier to this island -- some 70 percent of all Cubans are vaccinated by September.
Well, Cuban officials say taking the vaccine candidates is voluntary. They send what are known as committees for the defense of the revolution.
The revolution foot soldiers, to go door-to-door to tell people when and where they can get the experimental vaccine.
"They go apartment to apartment, scheduling people's appointments, he says. The process then slows. The People come where supposed to and they know the day and the time to be here.
Despite the many challenges, they still face, Cuban officials say they hope to be the first country to vaccinate their entire population with a homegrown vaccine.
As the number of cases and deaths rise higher and higher here, there isn't a moment to waste.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN -- Havana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Single use plastics, one of the biggest pollution threats facing the planet and now a new report has found as renewable energy replaces fossil fuel, big oil increasingly focusing on production of single-use plastic.
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[01:49:10]
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VAUSE: Right now, our planet has a very big plastic problem and it's getting worse. A new report finds more than 130 million metric tons of single-use plastics were thrown out in 2019 worldwide.
Production of these plastics expected to grow 30 percent in the next five years. Researchers say 20 companies mainly energy and chemical giants are responsible for more than half of the world's single-use plastic waste. Almost two-thirds of the financing for the plastic industry comes from 20 global banks. Together just a small number responsible a lot of pollution.
Here is where that extra waste over the next five years could look like. At least one trillion one-liter drinking bottles and caps, one trillion extra bags, one trillion extra meters of kitchen film.
The report was released by the Minderoo Foundation. And the chairman is Andrew Forrest. He is with us now from Washington.
Andrew, thank you for your time.
ANDREW FORREST, CHAIRMAN, MINDEROO FOUNDATION: Thank you.
VAUSE: So the really telling part about the report seems to be this ongoing relationship between fossil fuels and climate change and it would seem no matter which way fossil fuels are used, be it for energy or for plastic, there is no escaping the carbon emissions, the carbon footprint and the damage they do to the environment.
FORREST: I think that's absolutely correct. As renewable energy, green electricity has eroded the earnings of the fossil fuel companies that turned to plastics (INAUDIBLE) will makeup all that income producing more and more plastic.
The problem though is that that's gone from something which is terribly bad for the environment to something which is also terribly bad for the environment and the human species and your children.
This is a compostable product -- not. Nothing will return this plastic back into the original molecule. It'll just turn to -- its most lethal form which is the nano plastic which can go straight through your body, straight to your blood-brain barrier. It causes scarring on your brain.
This is a very dangerous substance. And this is the exact substance that fossil fuel (INAUDIBLE) will make more and more of this because it will compensate for the money we're losing to renewables.
I'm saying this is so much more dangerous.
VAUSE: Well, the response from the American Chemical Council which represents the fossil fuel and the plastics here. It seems to be as if there are two separate realities when you listen to their arguments. In their world, plastic contributes to a sustainable environment.
And they take issue with almost every part of your study, in particular this. Here's a quote, "Glaringly absent from the Minderoo Report is a recognition of plastics' critical role in enabling innovations we need for sustainable infrastructure, such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and charging stations.
How do you respond to that in particular and the overall argument in general? FORREST: Ok. Well, what I like them to do, if they really believe that
argument is to say ok, we will stop producing single-use plastic because that's gone in obfuscation and confusion, as usual.
But they don't have to win any argument, they just have to confuse the people watching the program than that one.
I'd like to say to them, you know, what about the hundreds of millions of tons which you might -- which pollutes the environment, which kills the terrestrial life, the marine life, which infects our babies' brains. What about that?
That's single use plastics. What about the fact that I am prepared as a major carbon emitter like you are, chemical industry, you're a major carbon emitter, too. I'm prepared to go completely carbon neutral by 2030.
Join me in that challenge. If you really believe what you are saying and you don't want to con the consumer, just say, ok, we will accept the change Mr. Forrest's challenge. We'll go carbon neutral by 2032.
[01:54:54]
VAUSE: Yes. I just wonder if this is a case for the fossil fuel industry because as renewables takeover, and become more and more prominent as you say, they're profits a-row (ph). Is this kind of like a last option here before disappearing or can they adapt in other ways?
FORREST: Yes. Look, I think any student of American modern history who has learned the legend of General Custer's last stand. General Custer's last stand for the fossil fuel industry is to pump more and more lethal plastic added in the world and to try and compensate for their loss of income from renewables.
What I'd like to say to every consumer of plastic in the world is ask who personally sold you something in plastic. You had no choice. You had to buy it, in fact, you weren't given any option.
Just ask, is this plastic safe? You know that the shampoo or the food which is housed in the plastic will be certified, but the plastic is not.
We need to reverse the current (ph) approach. Consumers should not have to assume something is safe when it's poisonous. The plastic producer should prove it is safe.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Very quickly -- almost out of time, Andrew but the study also found the amount of single plastic usage per capita per country, Singapore surprisingly way out in front. 76 kilograms per person each year. Australia came up next, 59 kilos. Then among -- with the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, and Hong Kong all on 55 kilograms each.
It would seem Australia is determined to be number one. They haven't met their targets for recycling or waste reduction for plastics. And now it's a voluntary scheme. They've cut the targets now. They've lowered the goals and the government is refusing to make anything here mandatory.
FORREST: Well, I would say this is a world record which every Australian is ashamed of. And I'd say that the (INAUDIBLE) local companies of the world who sell everything covered in plastic just have a bit of patience. Care for your children, care for our children. Make sure your plastic is compostable, go through the original molecule or it's 100 percent recyclable. But don't peddle it as safe. We all know now that plastic is not safe.
VAUSE: Ok. Andrew, thank you so much. We appreciate you being with us.
FORRES: Thank you, sir.
VAUSE: NASA is congratulating China's National Space Administration on receiving the first images from its rover on Mars. In the color photograph, you could see the rovers solar panel and the antenna right there.
Black and white image shows a deployed ramp and the flat Martian surface. That's where the Chinese robot landed on Saturday. China's robot may not be as technology advanced as NASA's Perseverance, maybe it's a stick shift, who knows.
Which is on mars right now but it does show that the country's space capabilities are catching up to the United States.
We are just getting started here on CNN. I'll be back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM in a moment.
Stay with us, please.
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